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“Goddess help us,” I said while rolling my eyes. Henry just cackled wildly before slipping down the couch and onto the floor. “I’m gonna go check on wisp boy. He and Martin are on the hunt again.”

That immediately piqued my interest. “Anything worrisome?”

Henry shrugged. “Don’t know until he finds it. See ya later, Keir.” With those unsettling, parting words, Henry scampered off. Lazarus had begged off earlier, heading to his private quarters to get cleaned up while promising to be back soon. Henry’s absence left me alone with my brother.

“This creature is unwell.”

Or maybe not.

My turn was painfully slow as I gathered my scattered thoughts and attempted to quell my hammering heart. “Helios,” I managed, keeping my voice surprisingly steady. “It’s been…a while.” We hadn’t seen Helios in weeks. I suppose it had been too much to hope the djinn had lost interest.

“Has it?” Helios absently asked, his attention still hyper focused on Eldon.

I considered Helios’s presence in a new light. I hadn’t seen him since the barrier snapped into being. Did that mean Helios truly meant us no harm, or did pixie barriers mean nothing to djinn? Given enough time, djinn figured their way around nearly every obstacle, including killing their masters. Had Helios simply figured out a work around?

Moving to block Helios’s view of Vidia’s eggs, I asked, “The barrier—is it…?”

“Impressive magic,” Helios answered, as he continued clinically assessing Eldon. “I cannot feel a pixie attached to its core.” Helios’s eyes tracked to mine while his face remained aimed at my brother. The odd move unsettled me.

“It’s a complicated story,” I answered, unsure if that would satisfy Helios or not.

“Most powerful magic is.” Apparently finished with conversations regarding pixie magic and barriers, Helios pointed at Eldon and repeated, “This one is very ill. They should not be allowed around Jima. The ferret shifter is fragile and could be easily contaminated.”

My lips parted only to close with confusion. “I do not believe Eldon has anything contagious.” The truth was, I didn’t know for certain. I was no healer but to my eyes, Eldon seemed to be suffering from malnutrition and a combination of neglect and torture.

“I am uncertain,” Helios stated. “It is best to err on the side of caution.” Straightening, Helios’s gaze traveled the room, locking on my position. I swear it was as if he could see right through me. “The room has changed.”

I nodded. “It seems the pixie magic reacts to our wants and needs. It’s taking some time to get used to.”

Helios didn’t respond. The half dozen dog tags draped around his neck glinted in the main fireplace’s flames. Hands clasped behind his back and dressed in his camo fatigues and military-style boots, Helios appeared to be standing at what humans termed at ease.

When he was done perusing my quarters, Helios turned the weight of his deep blue eyes on me. A single tattoo flared as he said, “This deteriorated creature will not interfere with your care of Jima.”

That was a decidedly odd order. “Of course not. Jima is my family as much, if not more so, than Eldon.”

Helios cocked his head to the side, shifting his blond hair. I noted it had grown out enough that it could move. Helios seemed to have abandoned his buzzcut. Now, if only we could get him out of the fatigues. “Is that the creature’s name?”

“Yes. Eldon is my brother.” I saw no reason to lie.

“A gryphon then. His scent is difficult to parse underneath the sickness.”

Nausea hit hard and fast. There was far too much truth in that statement. “That is true. Eldon doesn’t smell like himself.” At least not the Eldon I remembered. Much had changed in the last two centuries. Perhaps Eldon’s natural scent had changed as well. I wouldn’t know until he’d been washed and was physically improved.

Tilting his head, Helios stared at the ceiling as he said, “The barrier is a good thing. You should not allow Jima to leave it. He is safe here.”

Again, my lips parted. Helios’s fixation with Jima was…disturbing. “I cannot order Jima to stay within the compound’s confines.” Before Helios could protest, I backed that statement up with something he could understand. “I am not Jima’s master. I am his friend.”

Helios stilled at the word master while multiple tattoos flared to life, glowing like frightening beacons. Ominous light filled Helios’s eyes before he calmed and gave a brief “understood.”

We remained like that, silently contemplating each other as I desperately hoped Lazarus didn’t walk through the door, that Eldon didn’t wake, or Vidia’s eggs didn’t hatch. Each scenario contained its own different hazard.

Shoulders finally easing, Helios stared off to the side as he shifted his weight from foot to foot. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was either stalling or nervous about something. Neither of those traits fit with what I knew of the djinn.

As Helios continued acting off, my anxiety grew. Lazarus was due back at any moment, and I didn’t want him walking in and finding Helios this close to Vidia’s eggs. Deciding I needed to move this along, I prompted, “Is there something you want to⁠—”

“How is Jima? I have become aware that my earlier actions were…distressing.”

Back to Jima. Helios had a one-track mind that I dearly wished I could derail. “Jima is doing well. Thank you for your concern, but I believe he has recovered.” I wouldn’t say Jima was fully recovered because that would imply that he’d emotionally moved past nearly being kidnapped and kept as a pet.